let the decorating begin.

thanksgiving.

We had Thanksgiving at our house this year. I LOVE hosting, despite all of the cleaning that must be done before and after. That's my least favorite part, for sure. My aunt Mary and uncle Jim came down from Marietta along with my aunt Liz from Oklahoma, whom we only see once or twice every couple of years. Of course, my mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, granny, and my immediate family came, too. I got zero pics of people, but here are a few from the day.

Phoenix and I had fun making this banner. We collected sticks, acorns, feathers, etc. to make the letters.


I got a little Pinterest project happy, i.e., the burlap wreath, Mayflower boats, banner, etc. I'm addicted.


Mini pumpkin cakes with amaretto cream cheese icing. Yum!


I copied PBK and made my own Mayflowers. They were super easy to make, besides my sorry sewing machine causing some aggravation, and they only cost about $1 to make.


Thanksgiving Day Parade bingo. I haven't watched the parade in years so this was so fun! Especially since my mom kept cheating! Ha! Phoenix had a great time playing and keeps asking to play again. Too bad I didn't DVR the parade.


I feel especially thankful this year. Thankful for a fabulous family and incredible friends. Thankful for my health. And thankful for a steady job and a nice place to live. We are so blessed.

thanksgiving feast.

The whole family was able to attend P's Thanksgiving feast at school. All the little preschoolers were dressed up as indians and pilgrims. They were too cute! The school served a scrumptious lunch of turkey, dressing, yams, macaroni and cheese, green beans, and a variety of desserts. Yummy! Of course, my picky son ate nothing but cake.


He also made this little hand art placemat. The stack of art that he brings home weekly that I just cannot seem to throw away is taking over our house. You should see our refrigerator.


I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

leaves.

Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn.
~Elizabeth Lawrence

skipping rocks.

My aunt has a great river in her neighborhood in the mountains and the kids were able to check it out when we were visiting for John's wedding shower. John and Taylor taught the kids how to skip rocks.

Check out P's wind up. Nice, buddy. We may have a baseball player on our hands.


EK picked up the biggest rocks she could find so that she made a big splash when she chunked them in.


Just after this picture, mom released her death grip on EK's dress just long enough for EK to splash in the river herself. Just like those rocks.


Yep, my daughter went straight into the frigid river, waist deep, in her brand new Minnetonka suede boots and Hanna Andersson dress. What am I going to do with her?

it's the great pumpkin.

We made our annual trip to the State Farmer's Market to purchase our pumpkins for the season. I love to look at all the different types of pumpkins, the short, warty ones and the tall, perfect ones. Their colors amaze me, too. I especially love the blue ones. We also were on a hunt this year for a great, big prize-winner pumpkin. To put Emma Kate in. For a picture. We did this for P's first Halloween, and although this was not EK's first Halloween, she was way too little to attempt this last year. P loved his time in his pumpkin. EK, not so much.

Is it acceptable to post a picture of your child screaming? This is what she did as soon as her toes touched the inside of the pumpkin. We took her out and she was fine again. She even would lay on the pumpkin on her belly (from the outside) and peer inside to check it out. But she wanted nothing to do with standing in the pumpkin.


No smiley pics of EK in her great pumpkin. This is the best we got.


Poor thing. She just didn't want her princess toes to get all covered in pumpkin goo. I don't blame her. Not unless the pumpkin goo is part of a professional pedicure at Spa Sydell.

pinterest projects.

I'm just a tad obsessed with Pinterest, an awesome website that allows you to organize and share beautiful things and ideas. I've been using Polyvore, a similar site, for 3+ years, but Pinterest is so.much.better.

Here is one of my first Pinterest projects. Quite proud of myself.


Pinterest has sparked my inner creative side. Now I just need a new sewing machine for Christmas.

halloween.

Halloween fell on a Monday this year so it was a little hectic getting home from work, getting the kids fed and in their costumes, then trying to squeeze in some trick or treating before bedtime. I definitely prefer when Halloween falls on a weekend. Nonetheless, the kids had a good time going around to a couple of house for candy and had an even better time giving out the candy. They "fought" over who distributed the candy to the trick or treaters. Too funny!

Here are the few pictures that exist from that night.

I'm surprised I got any pics of EK wearing her hat. She left it on all of two seconds. Even elastic couldn't keep it on. This pic cracks me up. Looks like she's putting a spell on the pumpkins with her crow wand. Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo.


The cowardly lion.


The scarecrow.


The whole crew. Awful pic but it's all I've got. Tin man doesn't look too thrilled, does he?


It was fun dressing up as a family, although, I have a feeling this may be the last year without a little protest from P. Next year, I bet it's Bob the Builder and Minnie Mouse for this family.

soo-wee.

It's that time of year again. Time for a visit to the farm. We watched the pig races (soo-wee), hollered at the cows, winded our way through the corn maze, and rode the cow train. We love our local farm and our friends that run it.

Checking out the cows. EK has learned to "moo" so she held a little conversation with them there cows.



I always get stuck riding the cow train. I'm not sure why since my legs are longer than Taylor's. Hmmm....next year I'll argue that point.


Winding our way through the corn maze. This is the first year we've actually attempted it. It was fun!



Sweet siblings.


P loved the duck races.


The pig races were a lot of fun, too. This year the pigs had to swim! And until next year, soo-wee!

trunk or treat.

Bethany (P's school) hosts a fantastic trunk or treat every year, complete with trick or treating, inflatables, a cake walk, and lots of yummy food. We took the kids for a little pre-trick or treating since we weren't sure if Taylor would get off work early enough on Halloween night to take the kids in the neighborhood. I only got a couple of pics but make sure these hold you over for a few days since the rest of the Halloween pics are still on my camera and it's after Thanksgiving.

EK was a scarecrow. She refused to wear the darling little hat that came with her costume. I ended up attaching elastic to it to keep it on her head and she still pulled the hat right off. She's a booger.


My cowardly lion.


More to come of Halloween if I ever get to it. Slowly but surely catching up.

fall festival.

P had a fall festival at school where all the kids dressed up in costumes and they played carnival games and ate lots of candy. Sounds fun, right? Especially fun for my little man. His costume had not arrived via UPS yet so we headed to Target for a last minute costume.

My Rocket Man.

Cute, huh? He really liked acting like a rocket for the day. 3-2-1....blastoff!

pumpkin patch.

On the way home from camping, we detoured just a tad and took the kids to Burt's Farm to see all the pumpkins. I love going to Burt's every year! It was a Sunday so it was super crowded, but the kids had a ball, nonetheless.








We also stopped at Amicalola Falls to see the top of the falls and hike a little. Here I am with my little man on the trail.


It was such a great weekend spent in the mountains. I just love Fall.

camping.

We went camping with Amy and her family at Unicoi State Park. Yes, in a tent. Yes, there were bathrooms. Yes, it was freezing. Yes, we camped with 4 kiddos under 6. And, yes, I took a shower. I grew up camping and absolutely love it and I just knew the kids would, too. Unicoi was having their Fall festival that weekend so they had lots of activities for the kids....cake walk, hay rides, trunk or treating, etc. Each night we made dinner and roasted s'mores by the campfire while the kids played. It was the perfect weekend in the woods with some of our favorite people.

Where we slept. We did bring an air mattress and a propane heater. Both of the kids ended up snugged in our mummy bags next to us.


The boys throwing leaves.



Best buds.


P was completely in his element. He would sleep outside every night if we'd let him.


Sweet Tommy.


Power Ranger poses.



EK in her pack. Thank God we bought one of these. She loves it and it really came in handy when we took a short hike to the waterfall. She still requests to ride around in it at home.







Silly boy.




EK getting sleepy on the hay ride.


Like I said, it was the perfect weekend in the woods. We had so much fun with the Nasos and can't wait to go back next year.